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Oh no! I started seeds a few days ago and have to go out of town for an emergency for one week. Only one cell has tomatoes sprouting. I can't get anyone to check on them for me. Do ya'll think they will be ok if I take off the lid, set the light on a timer and put some extra water in the reservoir? Or should I plan to start more of them when I get back?

You can try, but most likely will have to start over when you get back.

Start your seedlings in a bigger conainer with deeper soil! You can transplant them into the cubes after they get about 4 inches high! Tomatoes grow stronger the more they are transplanted when they are young! I can leave my 12 y 15 styrofoam boxes for a week with no problem since I only vsit my greenhouse once a week since its 50 miles from where I livve. I leave some plants in the boxes till I plant them in the garden once I thin them!

Did you see the DIY self watering -- wicking -- tray modification for seed trays umm... I think Trisha? ... posted in the recycled containers sticky? That would work. Hmmm... You called it "reservoir" -- do you already ave a self watering set up?

You don't want to leave extra water in the tray for the seed trays to sit in directly that will kill them.

Everything else -- cover off especialy if direct sunlight shines on it (or vented cover if the air tends to be exta dry and there is no direct sun) and lights on timer -- sounds good.

ETA -- got the link: https://helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewt ... 145#282145

God advice all around! Applestar, I don't so much have a self watering system as just watering from the bottom to control damping off, which my herbs tend to do if I water the seedlings from the top. (I try to keep at least as many basil plants as tomatoes, they're bff in my garden.)

I am afraid to leave them soaking in "extra water" for the reasons you said. I lost all my tomatoes to a nasty mold the very first year I had my own garden from keeping the seedlings too wet and leaving the lid on. Since the tomatoes are coming up and the eggplant seem to poking through I expect everything else to be making an appearance in the few days too and think it will dry out from the lights with the lid off.

Marlingardener, thanks, I don't know why I didn't think of that! My mom is a 3-4 social skills teacher. The seeds I have are for this climate and will probably do better than the generic ones the big box store donated. Her class recently got grants for some excellent composters, so I think I will gift her my seedlings along with some of my established compost. It works sort of like a starter if you add it to a new pile, right?

I gave the seedlings to my mother, who promptly put them on her patio and proceeded to neglect them for the week anyway, lol. No survivors.
I did however direct seed beets, turnips and radishes which are going strong thanks to the heavy rain the day I left!